Don Turtelli was a minor recurring villain in the 1987 TV series. He's the head of the crime syndicate. He's the grandson of Tony "The Tickler" Turtelli. Turtelli went down in infamy for his torture methods, which he inherited from his grandfather. He specializes in the interrogation of people he captures through tickle torturing the soles of his victims' feet with a feather to make them talk Including April O'Neil, Vernon Fenwick, Zach and Caitlin.
He has two henchmen: Bruce and Rodney. A couple of big yet dumb goons.
He lives inside a penthouse apartment at the top of a tall building in New York City.
In his first appearance he was a short fat man in a white suit with a deep voice, but in his other appearances he was a tall thin man in a dark suit, he also had a new voice. It's unknown if the two Tortelli's are meant two be the same character or not.
History[]
In his first appearance, in "Burne's Blues" Tortelli crashed into the hiding place of spies who were torturing Vernon Fenwick and his boss Burne Thompson, by tickling them with a feather. When the spies ran away Tortelli asked Vernon and Burne about the Ninja Turtles, and when they said they didn't know anything, Tortelli pulled out a feather to "make them talk."
In the second episode, "Case of the Hot Kimono", Tortelli (now in a different animation style and appearance), wants to find out where is the kimono that contents a map to hidden treasure, so he sends his henchmen to steal all kimonos in town. April O'Neil reported on TV about the theft of kimonos, so Turtelli sent his henchmen to capture her and Vernon.
In his penthouse Tortelli asked his victims about kimonos. When April refuses to talk, he tickled her bare foot with a feather, only for a few seconds, then he started to tickle Vernon on his socked foot.
The Turtles fond Don Turtelli with help the of April's aunt. Turtelli escaped, but is later caught by the Turtles, and handed to the police.
In his final appearance in, The Great Boldini, Turtelli hires his cousin, magician Boldini to steal Toretlini's emerald from a museum. But when Boldini goes in the museum basement to find the emerald and meet with Turtelli, two kids Zach and Catlin, friends of the Turtles follow them and steal the emerald from them. However, Turtelli capture the girl Catlin, and threatens the boy Zach that if he doesn't give him the emerald, he'll tickle Catlin.
The times runs up for Zach, and when Turtelli was ready to tickle Catlin, asking her, "Where do you want blondie, under your arm or soles of your feet", the Rat King appears. The kids use Turtelli's and Boldini's arguing with the Rat King to escape, but the villains make a deal, and the Rat King, with the help of his rats send everybody out of the museum, and lock the museum so they can capture the kids.
The kids hide the emerald, but the villains capture them, tie them up and Turtelli begins tickling them on their bare feet with a feather. Catlin didn't break, but Zach after long periods of prolonged tickling cracks, and tell them where the emerald is.
Meanwhile, the Turtles get into the museum and save the kids, and catch Turtelli and Boldini, and hand them to the police.
Trivia[]
- According to one of Turtelli's henchmen, people think Don don't have a sense of humor. In "The Great Boldini", when confronted by the Rat King, he makes a joking remark asking which of the rats is his "Rat Queen", which the Rat King takes poorly.
- In gangsters' argot, the expression Don is similar to mob boss, crime lord, or kingpin, which means a person in charge of a criminal organization.